Material feeding apparatus



3 Sheets-Sheet l l/YWWTOI? il l lmg B E n F. MARTINDE LL MATERIAL FEEDING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1940 May 4, 1943.

y 1943. F. MARTINDELL 2,318,508

MATERIAL FEEDING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 {7 34 [a I; 1 I7 35 May 4, 1943. F. MARTINDELL- MATERIAL FEEDING APPARATUS '3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m H m M 0 WW Wm M6 if Filed July 10, 1940 Patented May 4, 1943 UNET TAT 151 .r tries MATERIAL FEEDINGARBARATUS Application July 10, 1940,v Serial. No. 344,755

7 Claims.

This invention relatestomaterial feeding. apparatus and more. particularly to apparatus, for

feeding electrical terminals. in continuous strip.

form and locating the leading terminal at. a predetermined'position.

The invention is. particularly applicable to intermittently feeding and locating a leading.

terminal of a continuous strip of interconnected terminals. Each. terminal is provided with. a.

narrow portion and. an apertured' head. portion which provide regularly spaced, indentations and shoulders, the terminals being, fed. to a predetermined position in. a processing. machine. where the leading terminal is severed from the strip and.

attached to a relay spool. head, or otherwise handled.

An object of this inventicnis the provision of an improved apparatusfor rapidly and efii'ciently feeding, accurately locating and applying strip terminals to a relay spoolihead.

In one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided for feeding and accuratelylocating a pair of terminws in the above form for attachment to relay spool heads by means of "a standard eyelet setting machine. comprises a feeding apparatus having sets, one for each strip, of spring pressed pivotal andlreciprocable. feeding fingers. and an. intermediate pivotal friction block carried by a slide member. Cooperating with the feeding fingers andiarranged forward. thereof is a pivotal spring pressed member having stop abutments for accurately locating the leading terminals,.the member carrying a shearing blade which cooperates wit'h' a stationary shearing blade to sever the terminals. The slide. and spring pressed member are operated in timedrelaticn with the riveting headand a rivet feeding means during-eachoperating cycle of the machine to cause the feeding fingers of each set, which are normally behind trailing shoulders of the strip, to over feed the terminalhead portion, which follows the leading terminal, past the abutments of the spring pressed member,

under which the shoulders are cammed. Upon the shoulders being advanced past the ahutments they arespring moved into the path of the abutmentsand during the return stroke of the slide member the strip is drawn back by the frictional grip of the friction block thereon until the trailing shouldersof the head portion which were overfed engage the'abutments and thus the head porticn of the leading terminal is accurately located. During the remaining portion of the return stroke of the slide member the strip i held stationary and the pivotal feeding fingers on the slide are cammed upwardly and ride over following shoul- The apparatus.

ders and finally spring intoposition-behindthese shoulders ready for the next str-ip'feedi'ng movement.

Other objects andadvantages of the inventionwill more fully appear.from thefollowing detailed description, taken. in. connection with the accompanying drawings, in.which v Fig. 1.. isa. diagrammatic side View. showing the general arrangement. of. the. strip material feeding. and locating apparatus embodyingthe-inyention in association with-anteyeletsetting machine to which. it. is. operatively connected and which is fragmentarily shown; p v

Fig. 2'is an enlarged. endvietmpaitly insection, takencnthe-line. 2-2 of Fig.1; 1

Fig- 3.is a vertical sectional .view taken on th line 3-3 of. Fig. 2.. showing the. position of the feeding. fingers relative to the trailing strip shoulders at. the. completion. of a. feeding. movement and before the strip, is, drawn backwards; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan sectional view taken on the line 4 4'of. Fig, 3;

Fig. 5" is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 5'5Iof'Fig..l';.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalview takenon. the line 5.5 of Fig. 5' showing the trailing strip shoulders drawn .back against theabutments on the spring'pressed membenportions of the eyelet setting machine being shown diagrammatically;

Fig. '7 is. a. fragmentary View similar to Fig. 6 showing the position of the spring pressed member, having the stop abutments, during the feeding of the strips;

Fig. 8 is: a fragmentary vertical sectional view I after intermittent, simultaneous feeding of' a pair of headportions I 5 of the terminals and; spool; head and; then set orriveted. The: free. ends of the terminals H which are narrow relative to the head portions l5 are bent upwardly at right angles to the head portions before being attached to the spool head, as indicated at I6 (Figs. 6 and 11).

of a usual standard eyelet feeding and setting machine, the apparatus for effecting the various operations receiving motion from elements of the eyelet machine. For the sake of simplicity only such portions of the eyelet setting machine have been shown which are necessary to an understanding of the present invention in one particular application thereof.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Fig. 1, 26 is a bed plate or table upon which the strip feeding apparatus and combined strip locating and severing apparatus, indicatedin general at 2! and 22, respectively, are mounted. Also, carried upon the bed plate Ill are spools 23, one of which is shown, upon which are wound the continuous strips ID of interconnected terminals II.

The feeding apparatus 2| comprises a pair of spaced vertical standards 24 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3 secured to the table and having aligned slideways 27 formed in their inner opposed surfaces. Carried between the standards 24 is a slide 28 having tongues 29 slidable in the slideways 21. The slide 23 at its left end (Figs. 3 and 4), is provided with spaced longitudinally extending slots 36. Pivoted upon the slide'28 at 3| in each of the slots 36 is a pair of spaced strip feeding fingers 34 and an intermediate friction block (Figs. 2 and 4) one for each strip I0 of'terminals. The details of the finger and friction block of each set are identical and, therefore, the following description applies to each set. The lower edges of the fingers and block are relieved at their'right ends, as indicated at 36 (Fig. 3) to provide clearance space between the strip l9 and the fingers when the latter are rocked clockwiseabout their pivot 3 l.. At their left ends lower extending edge portions 31 (Fig. 3) of the fingers 34 normally rest upon the upper surface of a bottom plate 33 secured to the slide 28 by screws 4| (Fig. 2). The pivotal fingers 34 and block 35 normally are pressed downwardly by the action of a leaf spring 42 bearing thereon and secured to the slide 23. The fingers are of such a thickness and so spaced apart by the friction block 35 that they freely engage the right hand or trailing pair of aligned shoulders I! of the terminal head portions 15 during the feeding of,

the strip l0. The strip I0 is confined and guided during itsmovement ina slot 43 formed in the bottom surface of the slide 28 in cooperation with the upper surface of the bottom plate 38, the slot being of suitable width to permit a free movement of the finger portions 31 thereinto. At their right ends the, lower edges of the finger portions 31 are inclined upwardly to provide cam faces 44 (Fig. 3 which during a return movement of the slide 28 toward the right after a strip feeding movement cause the spring pressed fingers to move clockwise about their pivot 3| as the fingers ride over following strip shoulders H, the fingers finally moving'downwardly into position behind the shoulders ready for the next strip feeding movement. The lower edge of the friction block 35 except for its relieved right end is in constant engagement with the central portion of the upper surface of the strip Ill and during the return movement of the slide 28 its frictional engagement with the strip is such that it serves to draw the strip backward a predetermined distance until over-fed trailing head shoulders I! thereof engage stop abutments, which will be described presently.

Secured to the slide 28 in a slot 45 (Fig. 2) formed in the upper surface of the slide intermediate the sets of feeding fingers 34 and friction blocks 35 is a rack 48 which meshes with a pinion 49 formed on a shaft 56 journaled at oppositeends in the standards 24. Fixed to the shaft 56 at its right end (Fig. 2) is a pinion 5|. Pivoted upon the shaft 50 adjacent the pinion 5| is a rack holder and guide 52. Meshing with the pinion 5| is a rack which is supported and guided in the holder and guide 52, the rack being operatively connected (Fig. 1) to an actuating arm 56 attached to and receiving motion from an eyelet feed chute 51 of the eyelet feeding and setting machine, the feed chute being oscillated during each operating cycle of the machine.

The combined strip locating and severing apparatus 22 (Figs. 1, and 5 to 9, inclusive) which is arranged at the left of the feeding apparatus 2| (Fig. 1) comprises a pair of standards 60, secured to the table 23, between which is freely mounted a pivotal member 6| having integral shafts 62 at opposite sides which are 'journaled in bearings 63 formed in the standards and the table 26. The right hand shaft 62 has secured thereto a lever 64 carrying a roller 6'! at its free end (Fig. 1). The lever 64 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction by a cam 68 carried by a reciprocatory riveting head 69 (Figs. 1 and 6), the cam engaging the roller 61 at a predetermined point in'the downward movement of the riveting head. Formed upon the lower surface 'of the pivotal member 6| at its left end are depending spaced sets of stop abutments l0 having stop faces H against which the trailing head shoulders I! on the strip in are abutted (Figs. 6 and 9) when the strip is drawn back after being over-fed. The abutments 10 are spaced apart "a suitable distance to provide a slot 12 for receiving the narrow portions of the strip after the feeding movement thereof. The slot 12 is in alignment with the strip confining and guiding slot 43 of the slide 28, the depth of the slots "43 and 12 being substantially equal to the thickfingers 34 toward the left cause the strip I0 to I be deflected downwardly due to the head shoulders on the strip riding upon the cam faces 14 of the abutments 16, as shown in Fig. '7.

A two armed leaf spring 15 secured in a slot it formed in the upper surface of the table 20 and secured by screws l1 normally urges the pivotal member 6! in a clockwise direction. A stop bar 18 spanning and secured upon the standards 66 limits the clockwise movement of the member 6!. At its right end the lower surface of the member 6! is relieved at 8| and the strip I5 is guided between the opposed upper surface of the spring 15 and the lower surface of the member 6|, the spring arms pressing the strips individually against the member. At its left. end the pivotal member 51 is undercut and suitably secured thereto is a shearingv blade 82 with its lower surface and cutting edge 83 in the, plane of the lower surface of the member Bl. Cooperating with the. movable shearing blade 82 is a: stationary shearing blade 8-: suitably secured andsupported in a. notch in the. table 2%. Strip guiding notches 35 are provided in the shearing blade 84, one of which is indicated in Fig. 6 and the shearing edge. is indicated at 88. The width of the notch 85 is such that the terminal head portions 15 may freely pass therethrough.

At the left end of the table 29 (Figs. 1 and 6)- is a yieldably mounted work support 89 having its upper surface normally spaced from an undercut bottom surface of. the. stationary shearing blade 84. Secured in apertures in the work support 89- are a pair of anvil and eyelet upsetting dies 93, only one of which is shown in the. drawings. The relay spool head i2 is carried upon. the support 89 during the attaching of the terminals l-i thereto and in the present disclosure the head. i2 is manually placed on the support and guided into predetermined position by vertical walls iii; reduced upper ends of the upsetting dies 8!] being entered irr the apertures it of the spool head. The work support 88 is moved downwardly inthe attaching of the terminals H to the head I2 during the upsetting ofthe. eyelets i3: by the riveting, head 69. and the dies Sil and moves upwardly to 'its normal. position as the riveting head: moves upwardly. Since. yielda-ble work supports are well known in the arta more detailedvdescription and. disclosure. thereof is not. believed necessary to an understanding of this invention. Disposed. above and axially aligned with. the. up

setting dies- $3 are a pair of eyeletpickup fingers.

92 which are yielda-bly mounted in thereoipro it catory riveting head 69' which has formed inits bottom surface, surrounding the fingers, die-formations 93 which cooperate with thedies- Sit to upset. and clench the eyelets I3 in attaching the terminals H to the spool head. 12; In: the continued downwardmovement' of the: riveting head 59 after. the-fingers 82 engage the reduced upperends of the dies 98 the fingers yield and: recede into the riveting head 69,. as clearly shown in broken outline in Fig. 61 vertical opposed spaced surfaces. 95 and at of the riveting head 69' and. shearing blade t l; respectively, serve to bend upwardly; as indicated at Cooperating I6 (Figs. 6- and 11'); the narrow ends of the terminals I! after the terminals are severed from r the strips H3. It will be understood that the descending. fingers 92 had previously" picked up the eyelets i-ii from the: feed chute (not shown) and thereafter thrust them into the apertures" Hi of. the accurately located leading terminals:

l I of the strips- As the severed. terminals H are carried downwardly; the extending narrow ends thereof are bent upwardly between. the" spaced forming surfaces 9.6: and 91;

In the operation of the apparatus above; de-* scribed and beginning the cycle ofoperation with the various elements of the eyelet setting l3 from the feed chute 5? which in the meantime has been oscillated in'a clockwise direction or to-the left (Figs. 1 and. 6) during which movement the eyelets were stripped. from the chute and simultaneously therewiththe overfed strips It were drawn back. totheposition shown, in Figs. 1, 6 and: 9.

In the above referred: toclockwise oscillation 1 of thefeed chute. 5-l the-attached actuating arm 56 likewise moves. and; through the rack 55, pinions 5| and 49 and rack 48- the slide 28 ot the strip. feeding mechanism 3'! is moved towards the right, as viewed in: Fig. 3. During this movement of the slider 28 the spring pressed. blocks 3-5; frictionally engaging the strips [0, carry the strips backward to engage the overfed' trailing; head shoulders-ll thereon with the'st'op faces H of' the abutments ill (Figs. 6 and 9):. In: the continued movement tothe left of the feed chute 51 after the headshoulders H are abutting the stop faces H the friction blocks 35 slide upon the stationarystrips l0 and the spring pressed pivotal: feeding fingers 34- due: to their cam facesM- ride up and over the fo1low-- ing head shoulders H and the-r1- are pressed downwardly to carry the leading edge of the portions 31 thereof into feeding position behind the shoulders H. With the strips Ill thus p'ositioned the trailing; shoulders H: of the terminal heads i5 immediately following the lead.- ing; terminals i i" are abut-ting the stop faces H of the abutments: Hi (Figs; 6 and 9) and thus the apertured heads ofthe leading: terminals areqaccurately locatedrelative to the eyelet pickup fingers 92 and: the spool'head i2 which is positioned on the support iii! of the table 20.

The: descending fingers 92- with the picked up 7 its descent the earn 6% carried thereby" engages the roller-Bl on the lever' 64* and rocks the latter in a counterclockwisedirection, thus actuating thespring pressed. pivotal member 61 in a similar-direction and: by'meansof the shearing blade 82ycarri'ed by the memberand the cooperating stationary shearing blade 84 the leading terminals" it are sheared: from. the strips It. In the continuing descent of the riveting head 69" the fingers 92" engage the upper reduced ends of the dies 991 and receide into the riveting head; As the lower end of. the: riveting head moves by the shearing blade 84 the terminals H on. the" fingers 92- a-re bent upwardly by the cooperating spaced surfaces; as and S'i of the riveting head and the stationary shearing blade, respectively; This: point in the. descent ofzthe riveting head 69 is shown in broken outline in Fig; 6. As: the riveting head. 59 reaches its lowermost position the eyelets are inserted in the apertures M of the spool. head and. the die formations 93 cooperate with the dies 96: to upset. and. clench the eyelets: l3-, thus attaching the terminals H to the. spoolihead' i2:

The riveting. head 69-: now moves upwardly, the operator removingrthe assembled spiool head and terminals and positioning another spool. head on the extension 89. As the head? 69rrises the spring pressed pivotal member 6! carrying'theshearing" blade 82 is returned to its normal position against into position behind the terminal head shoulders I! advance the strips ID, the advance movement being such that the forward edges of the strips which were left in line with the shearing edge 83 of the movable blade 82 after the previous shearing operation are first over-fed to the dotted outline position (Fig. 6) and subsequently are drawn back to the full line position, as previously described. During the advance of the strips I by the feeding fingers 34 the terminal head shoulders l l as they pass between the upper surface of the spring I5 and the bottom surface of the pivotal member 6| (Fig. 6) are deflected downwardly as they ride upon the cam faces 14 of the abutments 10, as shown in Fig. 7. Upon the trailing head shoulders I? being advanced past the stop faces'll of the abutments 70 the two armed spring 15 acts to press the strips upwardly and the narrow portions of the terminals are entered in the slots 12. The eyelet chute 51 moves to the right until the eyelets l3 carried at its end are axially aligned with the descending pickup fingers 92 which immediately are thrust thereinto and the eyelet chute then moves to the left, the eyelets being stripped therefrom as the fingers continue their downward movement. Simultaneously with the stripping of the eyelets from the chute 57 by the fingers 92, as the chute moves to the left, the over-fed strips l0 are drawn towards the right (Figs. 3 and 6), in the manner previously described, to abut the trailing shoulders I! of the terminal heads l5, immediately following the leading terminals, against the stop faces H of the abutments Hi. The apertures l4 in -the leading terminal heads l5 are now accurately located to receive the descending fingers 92 and the eyelets 63, as shown in Fig. 6, and at which point this cycle of operation of the strip feeding and locating mechanism commenced.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that during each operating cycle of the eyelet setting machine with which the strip feeding apparatus and combined locating and severing apparatus of this invention are operatively connected the two continuous strips ll] of interconnected terminals II will be intermittently drawn from the supplies 23 and over-fed such a distance'that the trailing head shoulders I! of the terminals following the leading terminals will lie in advance of the stop faces H, the forward ends of the strips then being drawn backward by the friction blocks 35 until the head shoulders abut the stop faces, thus accurately locating the leading terminals which are then severed, formed and finally attached to the spool head l2 by the eyelets I3.

While the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment thereof for feeding and locating strips of interconnected terminals having regularly spaced shouldered head portions for attachment to a spool head by an eyelet setting machine, it will be understood that it may be embodied in various forms, and is capable of other applications limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides to a predetermined position, a reciprocatory carriage, means movably carried thereon engaging the material including material feeding members adapted to engage said projections for feeding the material in one direction beyond the predetermined position and to idly ride by and move into feeding relation with the following projections in a reverse movement of said carriage, said material engaging means including a friction member engaging the material intermediate the feeding members and effective during said reverse movement of said carriage to return the material to its predetermined position, and stops engaged by said projections upon the material reaching its predetermined position.

2. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end of the strip material, a reciprocatory carriage, strip material feeding members movably carried thereon adapted to engage said projections for over-feeding the material during movement of said carriage in one direction and to idly ride by and move into feeding relation with following projections in a reverse movement of said carriage, abutments arranged forward of said carriage past which trailing faces of the projections move during the over-feeding of the material, a member cooperating with said abutments effective to move the material into the plane of the abutments after movement therepast, and an element carried by said carriage frictionally engaging the material and during said reverse movement of the carriage moving the projections into engagement with the abutments to accurately locate the leading end of the material.

3. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end of the strip material, areciprocatory carriage, strip material feeding members pivotally carried thereby adapted to engage said projections for over-feeding the material during movement of said carriage in one direction and to idly ride by and move into feeding relation with following projections in a reverse movement of said carriage, abutments arranged forward of said carriage past which trailing faces of the projections move during the over-feeding of the material, a member cooperating with said abutments effective to move the material into the plane of the abutments after movement of said trailing faces therepast, an element pivotally carried by said carriage arranged between said feeding members and frictionally engaging the material between said projections and during said reverse movement of the carriage, moving the projections into engagement with the abutments to accurately locate the leading end of the material, and means effective to constantly press said pivotal feeding members and element toward the material.

4. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end of the strip material, a reciprocatory carriage, strip material feeding members pivotally carried thereby having extensions on their lower edges adapted to enter between and engage said projections at opposite sides of the material for.

,members to idly ride over and move down into feeding relation with following projections in a reverse movement of said carriage, abutments arranged forwardof said carriage past which trailing faces of the projections move during the over-feeding of the material, a member cooperating with said abutments effective to move the material into the plane of the abutments after movement therepast, an element pivotally carried by said carriage frictionally engaging the material and during said reverse movement of the carriage moving the projections into engagement with the abutments, and resilient means constantly pressing said pivotal feeding members and elements toward the material.

5. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end thereof, reciprocatory means engaging said projections for over feeding the leading end of the strip material during movement thereof in one direction, a friction member engaging the material intermediate said feeding means, movable with said reciprocatory means and effective during a portion of a reverse movement thereof to carry the material therewith, and means including a member arranged forward of said feeding means adapted to support and guide the material in said movements, said member having spaced stop faces on its forward end against which trailing faces of the projection on the material are abutted during said portion of the reverse movement of the feeding means to accurately locate the leading end of the material.

6. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end thereof, a reciprocatory carriage, strip material feeding members movable thereon adapted to engage said projections for over feeding the leading end of the material during movement of said carriage in one direction and to idly ride by and move into feeding relation with following projections in a reverse movement of the carriage, means carried by said carriage effective during a portion of the reverse movement thereof to carry the material therewith, a member arranged forward of said carriage having depending spaced portions providing a channel therebetween for receiving the portion of the material between successive projections and having stop faces at their forward ends, the lower faces of said depending spaced portions having inclined portions upon which the projections slide for defleeting the moving material out of the plane of the channel, and a resilient member forming a bottom wall for said channel upon which the material slides effective when trailing faces of the projections move past said stop faces to move the material into the plane of the channel, said trailing faces of the projections being abutted against said stop faces during said reverse movement of said carriage to accurately locate the leading end of the material.

7. In an apparatus for feeding strip material having spaced projections along opposite sides, said apparatus accurately locating the leading end thereof, a reciprocatory carriage, strip material feeding members movable thereon adapted to engage said projections for over-feeding the material during movement of said carriage in one direction and to idly ride by and move into feeding relation with following projections in a reverse movement of said carriage, means carried by said carriage effective during a portion of said reverse movement thereof to carry the material therewith, a member arranged forward of said carriage adapted to support and guide the material in said movements, said member having spaced stop faces on its forward end against which trailing faces of the projections on the material are abutted during said portion of the reverse movement of the carriage to accurately locate the leading end of the material, and a resilient member'associated with said member and upon which the material slides for moving the material into the plane of the stop faces after movement of said trailing faces therepast.

FRANK MARTIN'DELL. 

